Joseph Boyden wins the Giller!

Joseph Boyden has been awarded the prestigious Giller Prize for his novel Through Black Spruce (Viking Canada). The Giller Prize, worth $50,000, was established 15 years ago by Jack Rabinovitch in memory of his late wife, Doris Giller.

Boyden says that winning the award will enable him to continue to focus on his writing. Authors Rawi Hage (Cockroach, House of Anansi Press), Marina Endicott (Good to a Fault, Freehand Books/Broadview Press), Mary Swan (The Boys in the Trees, Henry Holt/HB Fenn) and Anthony De Sa (Barnacle Love, Doubleday Canada) were also nominated for the prize. Each nominee was awarded $5,000.

n. a travelling show of performing animals, acrobats, clowns etc.
n. a situation characterized by lively and chaotic activity
A handful of times a year, when a book with sufficient accompanying brouhaha goes on sale, I do a segment called “Should I Read It?” for a CBC Radio One show. The segment name pretty much tells you what you need to know about its format: it asks whether the buzzy book in question is worth all the flap.